I was looking at getting a 4-track for doing some home recording (nothing fancy or even demo-worthy, just as a scratchpad) when I remembered that I have a pretty good sound card in my computer (Soundblaster Live) and a big hard drive. I think I want to use my computer instead, but was wondering what software I would need for what I want to do.
I play guitar mostly, and I already have a pretty damn good analog/digital multieffects box. I don’t have a guitar synth or the money for one right now, so I would be recording just plain audio, not MIDI (not with the guitar at least). I basically just want a program I can use to record multiple tracks as .WAV or whatever onto my HD, then mix it together in stereo. I also want a basic sequencer, for doing the drum parts and maybe some filler instrumentation.
What would be a good program(s) for this? I probably don’t need a lot of features and effects, as my RP-15 can do cabinet emulation and about every effect imaginable. I’m also wondering about how I would record stereo effects, I can’t recall right now (I’m at work) whether my sound card has two inputs or not - if it’s only one, I won’t be able to use the panning and stereo effects. That’s not necessary, just something that would be nice.
I don’t do warez, once I find out what I will need I will just shop software and music stores for it.
As long as you don’t need anything portible, using yr PC will be eaiser and sound a whole lot better than a 4-track will (a tape one anyway). I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.0 and it is very simple to use.
However you need to make sure you have enough RAM or Cakewalk will be a cruel mistress. I just upgraded to 9.0 and it crashes pretty damn often with my 64 megs. If you have more than 64 megs you should be fine though. I’m just counting the days till the RAM I ordered comes in.
Cakewalk recently release guitar studio for approximately $50. Not a bad deal for a basic recording program. I had a bitch of a time figuring it out at first even to get one track down. I have a tascam four track which is not nearly as flexible as computer recording but less work. I use the same kind of instrumentation as you do and prefer analog recording.
Does it come with a decent sequencer? I don’t have a drum kit (or a bass, actually, but I can borrow one or pitch shift my guitar an octave down) and can’t play drums anyway.
Cause Mac is FAR, FAR, FAR BETTER than a PC for professional use in anything that involves image and sound manipulation. PC may be good for domestic use, but you won’t find any professional using Windows for any serious work.
A lot of that is because so many Mac addicts tell everyone they can that PCs are worthless for that kind of stuff. Very few can actually give you a few good reasons WHY. I love PCs, and I have never wanted to do something I couldn’t do on a PC. Anyway, as I said in the OP, I don’t need something of professional quality (though in my research I have seen some rather professional software available for the PC), I just need something I can use to make songs. I have a good PC already (800Mhz PIII with 256Mb of RAM) and as a computer tech I know PCs much better than Macs, why should I waste money on an overpriced box of proprietary HW with a shitty OS?
Because you will become addicted to recording music on your computer. Trust me on this…once you start there is no turning back. The only way to do recording well (i.e. preofessional sounding) is with a Mac. No-one in this thread said PC’s suck. I have 2 and they are great for many things, but a Mac (I saw an iMac SE on Ebay today for $900…that doesn’t seem like an “overpriced box of proprietary HW” and I’m not sure where your coming from with the “shitty OS”…like Windows is some sort of great OS or something…)is the way to go when it comes to graphics/sound. Look at any professional outfit that does graphic/sound manipulation and you will find Macs. Jeez…all I was saying is that if you want to do it, do it right. We didn’t realize you were looking for some sort of half-assed answer, computer tech.
Q: How much experience do you have on a Mac? You seem to hate them so much, I was just wondering.
Well, I mentioned that I had a PC, I was expecting suggestions for the platform I have.
Windows is FAR superior to Mac OS as far as customizability and versatility go, and it’s not the only OS you can run on a PC. MacOS attempts to be easy and fool-proof, and in doing so it makes a lot of things difficult or impossible. I imagine the reason you see a lot of graphic artists and musicians using Macs is because they are made for people who don’t want to bother learning how their operating system works, so people who use their computer for pretty much one thing exclusively prefer them. This does lead to SW manufacturers making sure the kinds of programs these users use are available for Mac, and Apple builds their computers around these kinds of applications.
$900 for a USED iMac SE? Do you know what kind of PC you could build for that kind of money? (Hint, that’s not much less than what I payed for the system I described) 8^)
I use my PC and my Mac side-by-side. This is not the reality I live with. Far from it.
How much time have you spent on a recently?
Well, you “imagine” wrong. I am a long-time traditional artist (just learning computer graphics on my own) and I got a Mac because it is more stable (and faster) with Photoshop. Photoshop on my PC freezes too much, it is driving me nuts. I feel there is great merit to using my computer, and getting things done, because I am not having to fight the buggy software. This is why I prefer my Mac for Photoshop, not because I didn’t want to “bother learning how the OS works”. Phooey on you, mister, for that comment.
I am not a “power user” with a PC, but I get around just fine with it. I got a Mac after having a PC for a few years. I still use my PC a great deal.
As for the OP, if you want software and equipment to use with your existing (PC) system, that is understandable. And it’s no skin off my nose if you hate Macs. I don’t own any Apple stock. But don’t dismiss what many able and extremely musically-inclined people are saying about Macs. A LOT of professional musicians use Macs. Do you think they are all choosing Macs because they “don’t want to bother” learning Windows? Or perhaps it is because they know their business, and know what is THE best for them?
Again, WHY is a Mac better??? Stability doesn’t cut it. When I was doing OEM support on Win95 machines I learned all the tricks to minimize lock-ups, I have had my PIII/800 for 6 months and it has NEVER locked up on me. I have a PIII/450 that never locked up for over a year until my wife’s friend installed some buggy software on it, I hardly ever use it anymore so I haven’t bothered formatting and reinstalling as it only happens every few weeks.
Most PC users don’t know to periodically check for and remove .tmp files left from shutting the computer down improperly, they don’t bother closing other programs before installing new ones (yes, it DOES make a difference), and they either never run defrag and scandisk or they have some babysitter program that does it for them, but causes countless other problems as a side effect. 99% of problems people have with Windows systems would never happen had they read Windows for Dummies and used what they learned from it.
I have had to work with Macs, though not with Photoshop or any of those kinds of apps. When I was doing dialup support I had to learn how to fix them. It’s a real bitch, you have to fight the OS to get anything done because it doesn’t trust you not to screw things up - you delete a file and if you don’t empty your wastebasket or whatever it is called the computer will just put it right back, without even asking. It doesn’t help that most Mac users are difficult to work with because they don’t know how to do anything on their computer other than run a couple of programs and are afriad to mess with anything they don’t understand (not that PC users are THAT much better…but you occasionally do get people who know what they are doing, I never got a call from a Mac user who knew as much about their OS as I did even though I am not a Mac expert).
Why do professional musicians prefer using Macs? I seriously doubt many have TRIED using a PC, most simply take the advice of people like Uniball/smartt and trust that they are right. The preference for Macs among graphic artists and musicians is a self-perpetuating trend. At one time Macs WERE superior to PCs for music and graphics, back in the day of AdLib soundcards and VGA graphics. Everybody who did that stuff bought Macs. Since the professionals were already all using Macs when PCs started getting better for that kind of stuff, and changing OSs can be a pain, they told everyone that Macs are best.
I challenge you to tell me something you can do on a Mac that you can’t do on a PC.
You get a Mac and a PC with similar processing power.
But both to renderize, say, 10 minutes of computer animation in Hi-quality.
Then, just see who finishes first.
No, let’s re-phrase it: let’s see who FINISH the job. Cause I can bet all my marbles that the PC is going to crash in 24 hours.
So, what apps are we talking about using, that are guaranteed to crash in a PC version? What OS are you going to run it on with the PC (since you DO have a choice with one)?
I don’t think this is a good example. You are saying that it would be slower on a PC and that it would probably crash - are you saying this from experience, or hearsay? I’m looking for something specific, like something along the lines of ‘You can play Marathon on a Mac but not on a PC.’ That was an example only, I’m not going to try to reroute this conversation into gaming because that would be WAY too easy.
BTW, I had suspicions on the reality of the word ‘renderize’, I have always heard simply ‘render’. Yup, it’s not in the dictionary. Do a search on the term, all I could find is a 3D rendering application called ‘Renderize Live’. Available for Windows and Unix. 8^)
BTW, I’m going home now, actually should have left 5 minutes ago…so if I don’t respond for another, hmm, 15 hours it’s not because I’m ducking out of this debate.